Zachary Taylor (1784–1850) was an American military leader and the twelfth President of the United States. Taylor achieved his greatest fame while leading U.S. troops to victory at several critical battles of the Mexican-American War. A Southern slaveholder who opposed the spread of slavery to the territories, he was uninterested in politics but was recruited by the Whig Party as their nominee in the 1848 presidential election. In the election Taylor defeated the Democratic nominee, Lewis Cass, and became the first U.S. president never to hold any prior office. Known as "Old Rough and Ready," Taylor died of acute gastroenteritis just 16 months into his term.

Zachary Taylor was veteran of the War of 1812 and the Arkansas War. He remained in the army, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel by 1824. He joined a cabal of politicians and officers that quietly opposed Henry Clay before and after his ascension to the presidency.